REGIONAL—Keep your hands off the phone and on the wheel as Iowa’s new law on distracted driving end its warning period to start the new year.
The new hands-free driving law went into effect July 1, but the state offered a grace period until the new year. Starting Jan. 1, drivers caught using a smartphone or electronic device may receive a $170 ticket, which includes the fine and additional court-related fees.
According to Iowa Code 321.276, drivers are restricted from using an electronic device while driving with few exceptions: “A person shall not use an electronic device while driving a motor vehicle unless the motor vehicle is at a complete stop off the traveled portion of the roadway, or as far away from the center of the roadway as is practicable if the vehicle cannot be entirely removed from the traveled portion of the roadway.”…